Conversation recording with real-time notification for users of communication terminals

ABSTRACT

A recording device provides conversation recording with real-time notification between users of communication terminals engaged in a conversation. The recording device provides a recording start notification to a second communication terminal in response to receiving an initiate recording request from a first communication terminal, and initiates recording of the conversation. The recording device terminates recording of the conversation in response to receiving a terminate recording request from the first communication terminal, provides a recording stop notification to the second communication terminal, and saves the recorded conversation to a file in a file storage medium. The recording start and recording stop notifications can be either audible or electronic notifications. The first communication terminal may be muted prior to providing a notification, and un-muted subsequent to the notification. The recording device may obtain permission from the second communication terminal to record the conversation.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/060,399, filed Feb. 18, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,813,481, thecontent of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety into this disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to conversation recording with real-timenotification for users of communication terminals. More particularly,the invention relates to recording of conversations between users ofcommunication terminals, such as telephones, and providing a real-timenotification to at least the second party in the conversation that theyare being recorded, for legal reasons.

2. Description of Related Art

Often, when parties are having an active telephone conversation, oneparty will wish to make a record of some item of information beingdiscussed. However, the one party may be without a writing instrumentand paper to record the information, or they may be unable to writebecause they are moving about. In the past, this situation usuallyrequired the telling party (the party conveying the information) to callback and leave a voicemail message or a message on an answering machine.Alternatively, the telling party could also compose an email message ora text message containing the information. These steps can sometimes bevery problematic to the parties. Thus, it would be useful to be able tomake an audio recording of the conversation for later playback, therebyeliminating the above-described issues.

Many communication terminals cannot make an audio recording of aconversation but could initiate a network service to do so. However,such network services do not interwork with communication terminals inreal-time to provide the parties with audible or electronicnotifications that they are being recorded.

Additionally, some devices can record a conversation, but they do notreside in the communication terminals and interwork with communicationterminals in real-time to provide the telling party with an audible orelectronic notification that they are being recorded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system and method of the present invention meets these needs, andothers, by providing conversation recording with real-time notificationbetween users of communication terminals engaged in a conversation.Advantageously, the invention provides a voice recorder function in acommunication system, in real-time, that gives the caller an audibleand/or an electronic notification that they are about to be recorded.Giving the caller notification that they are about to be recorded isuseful for legal reasons. The feature can be implemented in the handsetor in the network.

A system for recording a conversation between users of communicationterminals, according to the invention, generally has: a firstcommunication terminal; a second communication terminal in communicationwith the first communication terminal, whereby the user of the firstcommunication terminal and the user of the second communication terminalcan have a conversation; and a recording device for: providing arecording start notification to the second communication terminal inresponse to receiving an initiate recording request from the firstcommunication terminal; and initiating recording of the conversation.

Advantageously, the system further includes a file storage medium incommunication with the recording device. The recording device is furtherfor: terminating recording of the conversation in response to receivinga terminate recording request from the first communication terminal;providing a recording stop notification to the second communicationterminal; and saving the recorded conversation to a file in the filestorage medium. The file will contain identifying numbers of all knownparties to the conversation, a date and time stamp indicating the starttime of the recorded conversation, and an indication of the duration ofthe recorded conversation.

According to one aspect of the invention, the recording device sends amute command to the first communication terminal prior to providing therecording start notification or the recording stop notification to thesecond communication terminal. Also, the recording device sends anun-mute command to the first communication terminal subsequent toproviding the recording start notification or the recording stopnotification to the second communication terminal.

In another aspect of the invention, the recording start notification andthe recording stop notification are electronic notifications to the userof the second communication terminal indicating the date and time thatthe recording was initiated or terminated.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the recording devicesends a permission request to the second communication terminalfollowing the step of providing the recording start notification, andreceives a permission acknowledgment from the user of the secondcommunication terminal prior to the step of initiating recording of theconversation. The permission request can be either an electronic messageprompting acknowledgment by return electronic message, or an audiblenotification prompting acknowledgment by an audible response.

The recording device can also send a call leg restriction command to theterminals following initiating recording of the conversation, to preventthe parties from adding any other call legs to the conversation.

According to an implementation of the system where the recording deviceis a remote notification and recording platform bridged on to theconversation through a communication network, the recording startnotification and the recording stop notification are audiblenotifications to all of the parties to the conversation. Additionally,in this implementation, the remote notification and recording platformfurther: offers the parties to the conversation an opportunity, via DTMFdialing, to enter their numbers to receive electronic notifications thatrecording of the conversation has initiated or terminated.

Lastly, according to an implementation of the system where the recordingdevice is in the first communication terminal, the recording device:mutes the terminal's microphone in response to receiving an initiaterecording request from the terminal's touchpad; provides an audiblerecording start notification to the second communication terminal;un-mutes the first terminal's microphone; and initiates recording of theconversation. Likewise, upon terminating recording of the conversation,the recording device: mutes the first terminal's microphone, provides anaudible recording stop notification to the second terminal, and unmutesthe first terminal's microphone. Electronic start and stop notificationsare also provided by this implementation.

Some system aspects of the invention could be implemented on digitalcomputing equipment. Further, some method aspects of the invention maybe found as executable instructions in computer software contained on acomputer readable medium.

No limitations on the invention should be taken from the precedingsummary, as it is merely intended to summarize the various aspects ofthe invention. The invention will be better understood by reference tothe following detailed description and the appended drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system for recording a conversationaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing representative communication terminals and acommunication network according to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a call flow diagram showing call flows of the system of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a representative electronic recording startnotification on a representative communication terminal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a representative electronic recording stopnotification.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the components of a representative recordedconversation file according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram of a method for operation of a recordingdevice for recording a conversation according to the embodiment of FIG.1.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a system for recording a conversationaccording to another embodiment of the invention, where the recordingdevice is a remote notification and recording platform.

FIG. 9 is a logic flow diagram of a method of operation of the remotenotification and recording platform of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a system for recording a conversationaccording to yet another embodiment of the invention, where therecording device is in the first communication terminal.

FIG. 11 is a logic flow diagram of a method of operation of therecording device of FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In general, the exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a voicerecorder function that can be used to record real-time voiceconversations between users of communication terminals, such astelephones, and deliver an audible (voice band) or electronic (non-voiceband) notification that the conversation is being recorded. The voicerecorder function is provided by a recording device that may either belocated in one of the communication terminals, or located in a remotenotification and recording platform such as a voicemail platform or aspecialized Intelligent Voice Response (IVR) system. If a remotenotification and recording platform is used, it may be bridged on to theconversation using standard multi-party conferencing methods. Thus,Person A calls Person B and a conversation ensues. Person A decides torecord the conversation with Person B and initiates the recording usinga touchpad mechanism on their communication terminal. The recordingdevice then provides a notification to Person B that the conversation isbeing recorded. When Person A decides to stop recording theconversation, they use the touchpad mechanism on their communicationterminal to terminate recording. The recording device then provides anotification to Person B that the conversation is no longer beingrecorded. Once the recording is complete and the file saved, Person Acan e-mail or download the file to remote computer or email accounts.

As used herein, a communication terminal is any device capable ofsending and receiving voice signals to and from at least one other suchcommunication terminal, such that the users of such communicationterminals can have a conversation. Examples of such communicationterminals include landline or wireline phones, mobile or cellularphones, other wireless devices (such as IPager/Phone devices),voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phones, video phones, or the like.

As used herein, a recording device is a device capable of recording aconversation between communication terminals. For example, a recordingdevice may be a remote notification and recording platform bridged intothe conversation using standard multi-party conferencing methods, or therecording device function may be built into the communication terminal.

As used herein, a conversation between communication terminals should beunderstood to include any communication between communication terminals.

It should be noted that many of the principles of the inventiondescribed and claimed herein will apply equally to wireless, wirelineand other telecommunication systems. Thus, the description of theexemplary embodiments should not be construed as a limitation on eitherthe spirit or the scope of the claimed invention.

System and Method for Recording a Conversation

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system for recording a conversation. Theexemplary system has a first communication terminal 10, a secondcommunication terminal 20, a recording device 30 and a file storagemedium 32.

The first communication terminal 10 and the second communicationterminal 20 are in communication through a first communicationterminal-second communication terminal communication link 40, such thatthe users of the respective terminals can have a conversation. The firstcommunication terminal-second communication terminal communication link40 may utilize a communication network, such as a wireless, a wirelineor a combination network.

FIG. 2 shows a representative first communication terminal 10, arepresentative second communication terminal 20, and a representativecommunication network 50 which serves as a first communicationterminal-second communication terminal communication link. Therepresentative first communication terminal 10 has a touchpad 12 fordialing telephone numbers and accessing features of the terminal. Such atouchpad 12 may include hard keys (actual buttons), soft keys (typicalmulti-functional menu buttons and procedures), touch screen keys, or acombination of key types. As shown, the touchpad 12 has an initiaterecording button 14 for initiating recording of a conversation and aterminate recording button 16 for terminating recording of aconversation. However, the functions of the initiate recording button 14and the terminate recording button 16 may also be accomplished with softkeys. Also, the representative first communication terminal 10 has amicrophone 18.

Returning now to FIG. 1, the recording device 30 of the exemplary systemis in communication with the first communication terminal-secondcommunication terminal communication link 40 through a recordingcommunication link 42, such that the recording device 30 can record theconversation. As mentioned above, the recording device 30 may be locatedin one of the communication terminals, or may be located in a remotenotification and recording platform. If the recording device 30 islocated in one of the communication terminals, the recordingcommunication link 42 is internal to the terminal. If the recordingdevice 30 is remotely located, the recording communication link 42 is abridge to the first communication terminal-second communication terminalcommunication link 40 using standard multi-party conferencing methods.

The first communication terminal 10 is in communication with therecording device 30 through a first communication terminal-recordingdevice communication link 44. This link 44 could also be internal to thefirst communication terminal 10 or through a bridge configuration,depending on the location of the recording device 30.

The file storage medium 32 is in communication with the recording device30 through a recording device-file storage medium communication link 46.The file storage medium 32 can be internal to the recording device 30,in which case the recording device-file storage medium communicationlink 46 would be internal to the recording device 30. However, the filestorage medium 32 could also be external to the recording device 30 inwhich case the recording device-file storage medium communication link46 would be a data-type link.

The file storage medium 32 is for storing a recorded conversation filegenerated by the recording device 30. Either the file storage medium 32or the recording device 30 will have an interface (not shown) forreceiving a request for the recorded conversation file and sending therecorded conversation file as requested.

In operation, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording device 30 will receivean initiate recording request from the first communication terminal 10to initiate recording of the conversation. The user of the firstcommunication terminal 10, or Person A, generates the initiate recordingrequest using the initiate recording button 14 (or soft key) of thetouchpad 12 of the first communication terminal 10.

In response, the recording device 30 will provide a recording startnotification to the second communication terminal 20, and initiaterecording of the conversation. In the event that the recording startnotification is an audible notification to the user of the secondcommunication terminal 20, the recording device 30 may send a mutecommand to the first communication terminal 10 prior to providing thenotification. The operating system of the first communication terminal10 will then mute the microphone 18 of the first communication terminal10 such that the user of the second communication terminal 20 will hearonly the audible notification from the recording device 30 without anyinterference from sound received from the microphone 18 of the firstcommunication terminal 10. Alternatively, the mute function could beimplemented in the second communication terminal 20 or in thecommunication network 50, such that the user of the second communicationterminal 20 will hear only the audible notification. Preferably, theuser of the first communication terminal 10 will also hear the audiblenotification. An un-mute command will follow the audible notification,such that the conversation may resume. Alternatively, the recordingstart notification may be an electronic, non-voice band notification tothe user of the second communication terminal 20 indicating the date andtime that the recording was initiated. Examples of such an electronicnotification include a Short Message Peer-to-Peer Protocol (SMPP)message, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, or the like.Additionally, the user of the second communication terminal 20 may alsobe given an opportunity to enter their number, via DTMF dialing, toreceive an electronic notification, such as SMPP, in addition to theaudible notification.

FIG. 4 shows a representative SMS text message 60 as might be receivedby a second communication terminal 20. The representative SMS textmessage includes a date/time stamp 62 indicating the date and time thatrecording was initiated by the recording device, and an identifier 64 ofthe first communication terminal. The identifier 64 of the firstcommunication terminal could be a telephone number for the terminal, ora name of the user of the terminal.

Returning to FIG. 3, in order to verify that the user of the secondcommunication terminal 20, Person B, has received the recording startnotification, the recording device 30 may further request a response ofsome affirmative action by Person B. Thus, in the embodiment shown, therecording device 30 sends a permission request to the secondcommunication terminal 20 following the step of providing the recordingstart notification. The recording device 30 must then receive apermission acknowledgment from the second communication terminal 20prior to initiating recording of the conversation. The permissionrequest can be sent by electronic text messaging, and prompt the user ofthe second communication terminal 20 to send the permissionacknowledgment by return electronic messaging. An example of suchelectronic messaging is SMS text messaging. Alternatively, thepermission request can be an audible request, and prompt the user of thesecond communication terminal to send a permission acknowledgment by anaudible response. Examples of such an audible response include a spokenresponse, such as “yes”, or a tone generated by the second communicationterminal 20, such as the DTMF tone generated by a particular button ofthe telephone touchpad. For example, the recording start notificationand permission request might be in the form of an audible messagestating, “You are about to be recorded, please authorize the recordingof this call by stating “yes” or pressing the “1” button.” The recordingdevice 30 then records the response as a “voice signature” authorizingthe recording. Thus, the user of the second communication terminal 20would have taken an affirmative action to confirm that they havereceived the recording start notification. If the user of the secondcommunication terminal 20 does not want to be recorded, they should hangup.

The recording device 30 may also send a call leg restriction command tothe first communication terminal 10 and the second communicationterminal 20. The operating systems of the communication terminals wouldthen prevent the communication terminals from establishing other calllegs while the recording is active. The call leg restriction function isdependent on each communication terminal having the capability ofrestricting the communication terminal from multi-party calls.

As best understood by reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, when the user of thefirst communication terminal 10, Person A, decides to stop recording theconversation, they use the touchpad 12 of the first communicationterminal 10 to generate a terminate recording request. In response, therecording device will terminate recording of the conversation, save therecorded conversation to a file in the file storage medium 32, andprovide a recording stop notification to the second communicationterminal 20. In the event that the recording stop notification is anaudible notification, the recording device 30 may send a mute command tothe first communication terminal 10 prior to providing the notificationsuch that the user of the first communication terminal 10 will not hearthe audible notification. An un-mute command will follow the audiblenotification so that the conversation may resume. Alternatively, therecording stop notification may be an electronic notification to theuser of the second communication terminal 20 indicating the date andtime that the recording was terminated. Such an electronic notificationcould be, for example, an SMPP message, an SMS message, or the like.Further, it should be noted that the recording device 30 may also bestopped by Person A terminating the conversation (i.e. hanging-up).

FIG. 5 shows a representative SMS text message 66 as might be receivedby a second communication terminal. The representative SMS text message66 includes a date/time stamp 68 indicating the date and time thatrecording was terminated by the recording device, and an identifier 70of the first communication terminal 10. The identifier 70 of the firstcommunication terminal could be a telephone number for the terminal, ora name of the user of the terminal.

Once the recording is complete, recording device 30 saves the file inthe file storage medium 32. Person A can now e-mail or download the fileto remote computer or e-mail accounts.

As shown in FIG. 6, the recorded conversation file 74 may contain anidentifying number 76 of the first communication terminal, anidentifying number 78 of the second communication terminal, a date/timestamp 80 indicating the date and time that the recording began, anindication 82 of the duration of the recorded conversation, and an audioencoding 84 of the recorded conversation.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary method for operation of a recording device forrecording a conversation between a user of a first communicationterminal and a user of a second communication terminal, including thesteps of: S700 providing a recording start notification to the secondcommunication terminal in response to receiving a request to initiaterecording from a first communication terminal; S701 obtaining permissionto record the conversation from the second communication terminal; S702initiating recording of the conversation; S704 terminating recording ofthe conversation in response to receiving a terminate recording requestfrom the first communication terminal; S706 providing a recording stopnotification to the second communication terminal; and S708 saving therecorded conversation to a file.

Remote Notification and Recording Platform

FIG. 8 shows in more detail the embodiment where the recording device 30is a remote notification and recording platform 130. Thus, the system ofthe remote notification and recording platform embodiment has acommunication network 50, and a first communication terminal 10, asecond communication terminal 20 and a recording device 30 (referred toas a remote notification and recording platform 130 for this embodiment)all being in communication with each other through the communicationnetwork 50. The system also has a file storage medium 32. The filestorage medium 32 is in communication with the remote notification andrecording platform 130.

FIG. 9 shows the steps of an exemplary method for operation of a systemhaving a remote notification and recording platform. Referring to bothFIGS. 8 and 9, during a conversation between a user of the firstcommunication terminal 10 and a user of a second communication terminal20, the user of the first communication terminal 10 may initiaterecording of the conversation by using the touchpad of the firstcommunication terminal 10 to bridge on the remote notification andrecording platform 130 using standard multi-party conferencing methods.Advantageously, one of skill in the art will recognize that multi-partyconferencing methods will allow the exemplary system and method to beutilized with conversations involving three or more parties, in additionto the two-party scenario described herein. Thus, the two-party scenarioused in this description is not intended to unnecessarily limit thescope of the hereafter claimed invention.

Once the remote notification and recording platform 130 is bridged intothe conversation, the method for operation of the remote notificationand recording platform 130 includes the steps of S900 providing anaudible recording start notification to all bridged parties, and S901obtaining permission to record the conversation from the secondcommunication terminal. The method then includes the steps of: S902offering all parties an opportunity, via DTMF dialing, to enter theirnumbers to receive an electronic notification that the recording of theconversation has initiated; and S904 sending an electronic recordingstart notification to those parties that entered numbers. The electronicnotification will include a date/time stamp indicating the date and timethat the recording was initiated, as discussed above. The next step isS906 initiating recording of the conversation.

When the user of the first communication terminal 10 decides to stoprecording the conversation, they will use the touchpad of the firstcommunication terminal 10, using special digits, to send a terminaterecording request. In response, the method proceeds with the steps of:S908 terminating recording of the conversation; and S910 providing anaudible recording stop notification to all bridged parties.Additionally, if any of the parties entered their numbers, the methodwill S912 send an electronic recording stop notification to thoseparties. The next step is S914 saving the recorded conversation to afile in the file storage medium.

Once the recording is complete and the file is saved, the user of thefirst communication terminal 10 can e-mail or download the file toremote computer or e-mail accounts. At a minimum, the file will containidentifying numbers of all known parties, a beginning date/time stamp,and the duration of the recorded conversation in minutes and seconds.

Recording Device in Communication Terminal

FIG. 10 shows in more detail the embodiment where the recording device30 is located in one of the communication terminals. Thus, the system ofthe embodiment where the recording device 30 is in one of thecommunication terminals has a communication network 50, and a firstcommunication terminal 10 and a second communication terminal 20. Thefirst communication terminal 10 has a touchpad 12, a microphone 18, arecording device 30, and a file storage medium 32.

FIG. 11 shows the steps of an exemplary method for operation of a systemhaving a recording device located in one of the communication terminals.With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, during a conversation between a userof the first communication terminal 10 and a user of a secondcommunication terminal 20, the user of the first communication terminal10 may initiate recording of the conversation by using the touchpad 12of the first communication terminal 10 to send an initiate recordingrequest to the recording device 30. Then, the method for operation ofthe recording device 30 includes the steps of: S1100 muting themicrophone 18 in response to receiving the initiate recording request;S1102 providing an audible recording start notification to the secondcommunication terminal; S1103 obtaining permission to record theconversation from the second communication terminal; S1104 unmuting themicrophone 18; and S1110 initiating recording of the conversation. Themethod also includes the step of S1106 sending an electronic recordingstart notification to the user of the second communication terminal 20.The electronic notification will include a date/time stamp indicatingthe date and time that the recording was initiated. Still further, themethod includes the step of S1108 restricting the establishment ofadditional call legs when the recording is active.

When the user of the first communication terminal 10 decides to stoprecording the conversation, they will use the touchpad 12 of the firstcommunication terminal 10 to send a terminate recording request. Inresponse, the method proceeds with the steps of: S1112 terminatingrecording of the conversation; S1114 muting the microphone 18; S1116providing an audible recording stop notification to the secondcommunication terminal 20; and S1118 unmuting the microphone 18.Additionally, the method also includes the step of S1120 sending anelectronic recording stop notification to the second communicationterminal. The next step is S1122 saving the recorded conversation to afile in the file storage medium.

Once the recording device 30 completes the recording and saves the file,the user of the first communication terminal 10 can e-mail or downloadthe file to remote computer or e-mail accounts. At a minimum, the filewill contain identifying numbers of all known parties, a beginningdate/time stamp, and the duration of the recorded conversation inminutes and seconds.

The representative system embodiments described herein, including thedescribed elements thereof, could be implemented on digital computingequipment, or the equivalent, through the use of computer programs, orthe equivalent. Additionally, the various method aspects of theinvention may also be found as executable instructions contained on acomputer readable medium.

Thus, the invention provides conversation recording with real-timenotification. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatadditional configurations are possible without departing from theteachings of the invention or the scope of the claims which follow. Thisdetailed description, and particularly the specific details of theexemplary embodiments disclosed, is given primarily for clearness ofunderstanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understoodtherefrom, for modifications will become obvious to those skilled in theart upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the claimed invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A first communication terminal comprising: arecording device; and a computer readable medium storing instructionsthat, when executed, cause the recording device to perform operationscomprising receiving an initiate recording request to initiate arecording of a conversation between a first user of the firstcommunication terminal and a second user of a second communicationterminal, providing, to the second communication terminal in response toreceiving the initiate recording request, a first recording startnotification indicating, to the second communication terminal, that therecording has been initiated, the first recording start notificationcomprising first timing information associated with initiation of therecording, providing, to the second communication terminal, a secondrecording start notification comprising an audible message indicating,to the second communication terminal, that the recording has beeninitiated, before providing the second recording start notification tothe second communication terminal, muting a microphone of the firstcommunication terminal to eliminate, for the second user of the secondcommunication terminal, interference received from the microphone of thefirst communication terminal, after providing the second recording startnotification to the second communication terminal, unmuting themicrophone of the first communication terminal to allow the conversationto resume, and recording the conversation.
 2. The first communicationterminal of claim 1, further comprising a touchpad comprising a key,wherein the initiate recording request is received, by the recordingdevice, via selection of the key of the touchpad.
 3. The firstcommunication terminal of claim 1, wherein the first recording startnotification further comprises an identifier of the first communicationterminal.
 4. The first communication terminal of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise providing, to the second communicationterminal, a permission request prompting the second user of the secondcommunication terminal to authorize the recording of the conversation.5. The first communication terminal of claim 4, wherein the permissionrequest is an electronic message.
 6. The first communication terminal ofclaim 4, wherein the operations further comprise receiving, in responseto the permission request, a permission acknowledgement from the secondcommunication terminal, the permission acknowledgement authorizing therecording of the conversation.
 7. The first communication terminal ofclaim 6, wherein the permission acknowledgement from the secondcommunication terminal is one of an electronic message or an audibleresponse.
 8. The first communication terminal of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise sending, to the first communication terminaland the second communication terminal, a call leg restriction commandfor preventing the first communication terminal and the secondcommunication terminal from establishing other call legs while theconversation is recorded.
 9. The first communication terminal of claim1, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a terminaterecording request; in response to receiving the terminate recordingrequest, terminating the recording of the conversation; and saving therecording of the conversation to a file.
 10. The first communicationterminal of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprises providing,to the second communication terminal, a recording stop notificationcomprising second timing information associated with termination of therecording.
 11. The first communication terminal of claim 9, wherein thefile contains a first identifier of the first communication terminal, asecond identifier of the second communication terminal, a duration ofthe recording of the conversation, and the recording of theconversation.
 12. A method comprising: receiving, at a recording deviceof a first communication terminal, an initiate recording request toinitiate a recording of a conversation between a first user of the firstcommunication terminal and a second user of a second communicationterminal; providing, by the recording device to the second communicationterminal in response to receiving the initiate recording request, afirst recording start notification indicating, to the secondcommunication terminal, that the recording has been initiated, the firstrecording start notification comprising first timing informationassociated with initiation of the recording; providing, to the secondcommunication terminal, a second recording start notification comprisingan audible message indicating, to the second communication terminal,that the recording has been initiated; before providing the secondrecording start notification to the second communication terminal,muting a microphone of the first communication terminal to eliminate,for the second user of the second communication terminal, interferencereceived from the microphone of the first communication terminal; afterproviding the second recording start notification to the secondcommunication terminal, unmuting the microphone of the firstcommunication terminal to allow the conversation to resume; andrecording, by the recording device, the conversation.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the first recording start notification furthercomprises an identifier of the first communication terminal.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising sending, to the firstcommunication terminal and the second communication terminal, a call legrestriction command for preventing the first communication terminal andthe second communication terminal from establishing other call legswhile the conversation is recorded.
 15. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising: receiving a terminate recording request; and in response toreceiving the terminate recording request, terminating the recording ofthe conversation, saving the recording of the conversation to a file,and providing, to the second communication terminal, a recording stopnotification comprising second timing information associated withtermination of the recording.